The invention relates to a marking system for ski runs and the like consisting of a plurality of demarcation signs arranged along the edges of the run.
Especially for ski runs it is usual to mark the course of the run by means of sign posts or signs fixed on poles or trees along the run. These signs indicate the approximate course of the run, and preferably also the standard and the length thereof. In good weather conditions this manner of marking ski runs is both sufficient and satisfactory.
In bad weather conditions, however, especially in fog or heavy snowfall this kind of marking system is not satisfactory, as a skier who is not familiar with the terrain can easily lose his way outside the run. Especially in high mountain regions above the tree line this deficiency can have fatal consequences, and there have already been a number of accidents with people injured and even dead. It could happen that skiers lost their way and came into slopes endangered by avalanches or fell over rock walls or into crevasses. The reasons for these accidents are that the distance between the single sign posts usually was too great and that it was impossible for the skier to find out on which side of the sign post the run passed.
Furthermore it is known for demarcation purposes of general type to use 3-dimensional signs of mainly conical form which can be easily distinguished from the surroundings because of their remarkable colouring, illumination or the like, whereby the signs used for one demarcation purpose were all of the same type.
For slalom competitions it is known to mark the course of the competitor competitor by poles, whereby the two poles which form a gate are always of the same colour.
The lateral delimitation poles for roads, i.e. snow poles which are planted in winter, also serve for the demarcation of the edge of the road, the course of the road being defined by the constant distance between each pair of poles opposite one another.
These last mentioned possibilities of demarcation, however, can not be transferred to ski runs, since the width of a run is by far larger than that of a road, and also since the width of a ski run varies constantly.